Conico to appeal Canadian arbitrator’s decision in drilling spat dispute

Conico Ltd (ASX:CNJ) intends to appeal a Canadian court’s decision that threw out its counterclaim against a drilling contractor Conico says ripped it off.

A Canada-based drilling contractor called Cartwright performed work for Conico at one of its projects in Greenland back in 2022, and charged Conico A$1.5M for the works.

Except then, Conico refused to pay. (A technicality: Conico worked with Cartwright via the former’s subsidiary, Longland.) This is because, according to the company, Cartwright’s drillers were pretty unimpressive.

The company on Thursday wrote: “Longland refused to pay due to the performance of Cartwright being assessed by the board as being materially deficient in a number of key areas.”

This dispute ultimately became the subject of an arbitration court in Canada which focused on the original works contract executed in February 2021.

Conico believes Cartwright breached its obligations by not providing what was promised: a first-class drilling operation. Notably, the allegedly aggrieved company hasn’t really gone into any specific detail about what exact key deficiencies were observed.

Whether or not that’s related to the following is only speculation, but – clearly to Conico’s surprise, the arbitrator actually sided with Cartwright.

That decision dictated Conico was breaching the contract, in fact, by refusing to pay Cartwright.

And so now, the company wants to take the ongoing case to the Supreme Court to effectively throw out the arbitration decision. The story continues.

CNJ last traded at 1.1cps.

Join the discussion: See what HotCopper users are saying about Conico and be part of the conversations that move the markets.

The material provided in this article is for information only and should not be treated as investment advice. Viewers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a certified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. For full disclaimer information, please click here.